Rock-and-roll's most loyal capo

Newjersey.com
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

By MIKE KERWICK
STAFF WRITER

"They're out there."
Pluck those three words from Steven Van Zandt's mini-rant and you might pause, wondering if the old man has watched one too many "X-Files" episodes. But he's not talking UFOs or extraterrestrials. He's lamenting the marginalization of another group, a collection of fans he thinks terrestrial radio may have forgotten.

"There's millions of rock-and-roll fans out there," Van Zandt said during a recent phone interview, "and they've got nowhere to go.
"That's why we started the [satellite] radio show. That was the whole point. I look around, you can hear new pop, you can hear new hard rock. ... Garage rock, there's no format for it."
In a few weeks, he will be touring the country with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, playing one sold-out show after another to support Springsteen's new album, "Magic." Each performance will offer evidence of rock's vibrant pulse. But at the moment Van Zandt is beating the drum at rock's grass-roots level, pushing the Chesterfield Kings and their new album, "Psychedelic Sunrise." The band's new release is on Little Steven's label -- Wicked Cool Records.
IF YOU GO

WHO: The Chesterfield Kings (with special appearance by Little Steven at Vintage Vinyl).
WHAT: Rock.
WHERE: Vintage Vinyl, 51 Lafayette Road, Fords; 732-225-7717; Skyport Marina at 23rd and the East River, Manhattan; 212-571-3304.
WHEN: Saturday (1:30 p.m. at Vintage Vinyl; 7 p.m. at Rocks Off Concert Cruise).
HOW MUCH: $20 advance, $25 day of show.
WHERE TO HEAR: my space.com/the chesterfieldkings.

"If he didn't take an interest in the band," said Kings frontman Greg Prevost, "we wouldn't be progressing like we are."
The group has played Conan O'Brien (hmmm, wonder if knowing Max Weinberg helped at all ...) and will be making two appearances this Saturday for local rock fans. The group will play a short set at Vintage Vinyl in Fords and will sign copies of the new CD. Then at night they'll hit the water and perform on a Manhattan river cruise. Van Zandt said he's hoping to get to the Vintage Vinyl appearance but won't be performing with the group.
"I don't really fit in with anybody," Van Zandt said. "I don't want to dilute what's going on. I just sort of sit back and enjoy it just like everyone else."
He calls the Chesterfield Kings "the coolest band in the world" and said their newest album is "like the old days." On first listen, they echo the Rolling Stones. You can't taste "Spanish Sun," one of their new songs, without thinking "Paint It Black."
"We weren't trying to do that," Prevost said, "but it ended up being [like that]."
Van Zandt knows trying to market a lesser-known band now is 180 degrees away from the way the E Street Band used to build buzz when it was playing shows in Asbury Park. He traces it back to the birth of MTV. In Van Zandt's mind, video did kill the radio star.
"It was a whole different world," he said. "We could get airplay locally. ... We would just walk in to [the] equivalent of Q104 whenever we felt like it. We went on there and played.
"It's just gone. Other than college stations, it's mostly gone."
With no more "Sopranos" episodes to film, Van Zandt's plate is a little lighter. But he's still programming two radio stations for Sirius, still pushing the Chesterfield Kings, still touring with Springsteen.
Doesn't it get exhausting?
"The answer to that is yes," Van Zandt said. "You just kind of keep going. It certainly helps that I like everything I do. Could I do this if I hated it or could I do this if I was doing it for money? No. But I love it all."
E-mail: kerwick@northjersey.com